Holiday Visitors’ Centre, Balatonfüred

Architects: László Herczeg, Tamás Vörös DLA
Text: Miklós Okrutay
Photos: Tamás Fenes

Gaining fame as the Esterházy Mansion in Balatonfüred, the history of the former holiday home dates from the late 18th century to the 1960s. The L-shaped building, built in 1782 in its first phase, was still a single-floor structure, and served the holiday-making public of Balatonfüred practically from the very first years of its existence. The revival of the building is the result of the idea of an exhibition summarising the history of the Balaton lakeside holiday experience. A tour of the Holiday History Visitors’ Centre reveals how the building itself and the exhibition housed in it have become one. The ground floor, which is the oldest core of the building, with Czech-style vaulted ceilings and restored, lightly decorated with a botanical decoration. From here, however, the architectural spaces discreetly recede into the background. The former hotel rooms are arranged in an order of themes, with individual chapters on holidays, in some places accompanied by superb interior design.

General planning: MCXVI Architectural Studio
Lead architects: László Herczeg, Tamás Vörös DLA
Fellow architects: Gergely Galántai, Katalin Pirchala, Dániel Szabó
Interior designer: Kata Csaba
Fellow interior designers: Dénes Kovács, Zsófia Paál
Environment: Andrea Balogh – 4D Landscape Architects
Structure: Miklós Kelemen, Csaba Harsányi
HVAC: György Kurunczi
Electrical engineering: Dávid Sándor – Sdesign Electric
Main contracor: Attila Tibor Gáncs – Stilépber